“It is fortunate to be of high birth, but it is no less so to be of such character that people do not care to know whether you are or are not.
“As favor and riches forsake a man, we discover in him the foolishness they concealed, and which no one perceived before
“It is a great misfortune not to possess sufficient wit to speak well, nor sufficient judgment to keep silent
“The 'morality of compromise' sounds contradictory. Compromise is usually a sign of weakness, or an admission of defeat. Strong men don't compromise, it is said, and principles should never be compromised
“I shall argue that strong men, conversely, know when to compromise and that all principles can be compromised to serve a greater principle
“Every human being is intended to have a character of his own; to be what no others are, and to do what no other can do
“It is far more important to me to preserve an unblemished conscience than to compass any object however great
“Grandeur of character lies wholly in force of soul, that is, in the force of thought, moral principle, and love, and this may be found in the humblest condition of life
“All that a man does outwardly is but the expression and completion of his inward thought. To work effectively, he must think clearly; to act nobly, he must think nobly
“To extinguish the free will is to strike the conscience with death, for both have but one and the same life